Why Jim Yong Kim Went to U.P.

The World Bank, among other initiatives, has sponsored a project to increase the agricultural productivity of degraded land in Uttar Pradesh. Pictured, Mr. Kim in Brasilia, Brazil, March 5.

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim spent a significant chunk of his three-day trip in India in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

India has the highest number of poor people in world: about 400 million people, or over 30% of its 1.24 billion people, according to World Bank data. Over half of U.P.’s population of 200 million lives on less than $1.25 a day.

This makes U.P. central to the World Bank’s poverty eradication strategy. Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, Mr. Kim said that unless significant progress is made in U.P., it will be difficult to eradicate poverty in India, and in the world more broadly.

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“There is a lot to do in Uttar Pradesh. We know that we have to create more jobs in Uttar Pradesh, we know that we have to improve healthcare systems,” said Mr. Kim. He said he was hopeful that lessons learnt in U.P. could be applied to the rest of India and abroad: “We believe that successes here can have huge impact on other parts of the world.”

India is the largest client of the World Bank, which has lent the country around $26 billion over the past five years. Mr. Kim said the bank plans to lend between $3 billion and $5 billion a year to India from 2014 to 2018.

In U.P. – a state with the population of Brazil – Mr. Kim toured development projects to check on their progress and to see whether they could be replicated elsewhere.

“The World Bank Group’s mission of eradicating global poverty and boosting shared prosperity cannot be fulfilled if Uttar Pradesh continues to be home to 66 million of India’s poor – the highest in any state,” Mr. Kim said in Lucknow, U.P., on Tuesday.

In U.P., the World Bank has already given $1 billion to a project aimed at cleaning the River Ganges. Mr. Kim visited Kanpur, a large city in Uttar Pradesh that overlooks the Ganges, to examine the job market, and to see how basic goods like energy and water are delivered.

The World Bank also sponsored a project to increase the agricultural productivity of degraded land, and another project aimed at improving the efficiency, quality and accountability of health services delivery in U.P.

Uttar Pradesh is also likely to receive around $1.6 billion in assistance through ongoing projects, including some aimed at improving the water and sanitation sectors.

The state also benefits from World Bank funding to India as a whole.

In U.P., Mr. Kim also visited a rural community and saw first-hand the challenges posed by India’s rapid urbanization. Around 10 million people are leaving rural areas each year to move to towns and cities in the hope of a better life.

“Lack of opportunity in India’s rural areas often leads people to look for a better life in the city. The energy and enterprise of people flocking to India’s urban areas can help unleash the country’s economic potential, but this will only happen if cities offer them good jobs and quality public services,” Mr. Kim said Wednesday.

During Mr. Kim’s visit, U.P. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, sought over $3.5 billion assistance from the bank over the next three to five years.

Above all, Mr. Yadav said U.P. needs funds to improve its pot-holed roads, a key impediment for economic activity to pick up. He also sought assistance for power project and waste management. The bank will discuss the proposals with the federal finance ministry, the World Bank said in a statement Tuesday.

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